Heroes: More Heroes
by rylansato
Summary: More people have developed abilities that can be described as Special and they will rise to save the world.
1. Brought Together By An Eclipse

More Heroes

ODESSA, TEXAS

A girl walked along a set of railroad tracks on her way home. The shoulder length, blondish-brown haired, hazel eyed girl had her usual backpack that held her books but she also carried a duffle bag that looked like it didn't have much in it. She listened to her iPod as she walked. She had one of the earphones in her right ear and the other hung down to her shoulder so she could hear if a train was coming or not. Her pace wasn't hurried or deliberate; it was just her normal pace. She looked up at the sky wondering when the eclipse was going to happen. She returned her gaze to the tracks a few seconds later. She turned around to see that a train was approaching but it was still a ways away.

_"I might as well get out of the way now."_ She thought.

She stepped off the tracks and to her surprise a pair of twins stood there, staring at her. They looked identical. The only difference was their clothes. She was a bit taken back by these two. She had not seen them before but they looked at her as if they knew her.

"You startled me." She said.

"We do that." One of them said.

_"Why didn't I know they were here?" _She thought to herself.

"You're the one they call Tone. Is that right?" The other said.

"That depends on who's asking."

"Our father told us about you. He also said that we should kill you."

"What? Why?"

"Because you are different."

"You two aren't exactly normal either."

"That doesn't matter. You're going to die now."

The two lunged at her but she threw her backpack at one of them and then reached into her duffle bag and revealed a sword. She unsheathed it and stood in a defensive stance. One of the twins threw a punch at her, but she dodged and swung her sword. The sword barely missed its target. The guy ducked at the last second. Tone leapt into the air and ran her hand down the side of the blade. The blade then turned into a fiercer looking weapon. It now slithered like a snake and had teeth to it. She swung the sword and the blade extended outward and shot at one of the twins. He leapt out of the way as the blade shot past him. The blade looked alive.

"I think it's time to use our powers." One of them said.

"I agree. She's getting more dangerous by the second. And I don't like that sword."

The twins lifted their arms and fired baseball sized yellow energy balls at Tone. She jumped and dove out of the way to avoid getting hit. She didn't know what would happen if she got hit by one of those things but all she did know is that it would be bad.

"What are you two?" She asked.

"That is a secret. We know what you are. You have the ability to sense and use spiritual energy. I will give you a hint at what we are. It has something to do with you not being able to sense our spiritual energy."

Tone's eyes widened. While she was distracted, the other twin came out of nowhere and knocked Tone backward. She would have normally kept her balance but she tripped over one of the railings on the railroad and fell backward. She hit her head on the other rail. She wasn't knocked unconscious but it fazed her a bit. She looked around frantically trying to get her bearings. She could hear the train approaching and it was approaching fast. The twins looked at her, then lifted their arms again and fired more energy blasts. The train was only feet away. Tone rolled backwards out of the way just as the train had reached her position. However, the energy blasts that the twins fired, hit the train. The train toppled over and derailed. Tone leapt out of the way of the derailing train and its cars. The train exploded in multiple areas. The twins looked around but couldn't see Tone anywhere.

"She got away." One of them said.

"That will happen sometimes. So far we've been lucky to eliminate everyone we've encountered. So what, we've let one go. Let's go home."

"It's going to be a long fly home all the way to Ohio."

The two twins shot into the air and flew east, leaving the wrecked train to burn.

Nearby, Tone ran away from her two attackers and the wrecked train.

_"What were those two?_" She thought. _"__The one was right that I couldn't sense them. __How did they know of my abilities? No one knows about what I can do, not even my parents."_

ATHENS, OHIO

A teacher of a high school stood in front of her English class. All of a sudden, a student walked in, interrupting the teacher's lesson. The student was about 5'7" with brown hair and green eyes. He wore an unbuttoned blue shirt with a white shirt underneath and a pair of brown cargo pants. He had a shoulder strap, which hung from his right shoulder.

"Can I help you?" The teacher asked.

The student walked up to her without saying anything and handed her a pink slip. She took the slip and looked it over.

"Ah, ok." She said looking up from the paper. She turned her gaze towards the class. "Class, this is Dustin Zofchak. He'll be joining us from now on. Go ahead and sit wherever."

Dustin nodded and saw an empty seat on the other side of the room. He walked over and sat down. The teacher resumed her lesson. Dustin pulled out a notebook from his backpack and set it on the desk. As he was opening it, he noticed a girl that was sitting next to him, looking at him. When she realized she had been caught she quickly looked back at the teacher. Dustin could tell from his position that the girl was blushing. The girl had long brown hair that was kept in a pony tail. The pony tail ran down between her shoulder blades and stopped right below them. She had a slender build to her and was about Dustin's height if not a bit taller. She wore a pair of tight blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Dustin thought that she was rather cute. He did notice that her eyes kept casually looking over to see if he was still looking in her direction. Dustin felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back to see a guy with ear length brown hair leaning forward.

"I think she likes you." He whispered.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do. Her name is Aarika. She's a nice girl."

"Ah I see."

"The name is Alex, by the way." He said extending his hand outward.

"Dustin." Dustin said shaking Alex's hand.

"Where are you from?" Alex asked.

"Pittsburgh."

"What made you want to come here?"

"Got kicked out of my old school for fighting."

"Fighting?"

"Yeah. They said I tried to burn the guy 'cause they found burn marks on his guy's chest after I punched him there. I tried to tell them that there was no way I could've done it but they didn't believe me and booted me out."

"What started the fight?"

"He was ticked 'cause he saw me talking to his girlfriend. So, he decided that it was my fault and that I needed to be taken care of."

Alex nodded in acknowledgement. He leaned back into his seat and opened his notebook, a comic book laid inside of it. It was the 13th issue of 9th Wonders. He began to read it as class went on.

LANCASTER, OHIO

A girl was asleep in her room. She had brown hair and had an athletic build to her. The name Liz was on the left side of the hoodie she wore. Her arms were at her sides and her head was slightly turned to the left. She shifted herself to lie on her stomach but she awoke, revealing her brown eyes, when her hand couldn't find the pillow. She awoke to realize that she was three feet above her bed. She almost instantly fell and she let out a small scream.

"Not again." She said to herself. "First, fire and ice arrows, then creating a light ball between my hands and now levitation. I'm beginning to wonder about that book that had all these weird things in it that I found in my grandpa's attic. I'm going to have to go to my grandpa's place to talk to him. He'll know what to do. I have to tell him what I can do."

A short time later, she was headed to her grandfather's house. She passed a sign that read "ATHENS 43 miles."

KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA

A guy sat in his silver Nissan Skyline at a red light waiting for it to turn green. He had short blonde hair and was slightly growing facial hair. He tapped the top of his steering wheel in impatience. Then a lime green, rusted out Dodge Charger pulled up next to him. He looked over and saw a guy he knew and his girlfriend. The guy looked liked white trash along with his girlfriend.

"Hey Blaine, wanna race." The guy in the charger said.

_"Oh god.__ It's Dundee and his always pregnant fat girlfriend. She might be pregnant. I can't tell because she's fat." _Blaine thought to himself.

"No not really. My Skyline will put your POS Charger down. Besides, you're carrying twice the load you should be. I'm surprised that your car isn't bottomed out already." Blaine said with a smirk.

"You son of a bitch." Dundee said. "My charger isn't a POS."

_"Dundee, you're an idiot."_ Blaine thought.

The light turned green and Blaine took off, leaving Dundee in his dust. Blaine was so caught up by leaving Dundee back there; he didn't notice a cop sitting on the side of the road. He blew right past him and the cop frantically turned on his lights and sirens.

"Damn it." Blaine said. "That cop will catch me if I don't use it."

Blaine quickly turned down the next street. He then found an alley way and drove down it. He stopped his car and got out. He could hear the sirens getting louder. He clapped his hands and then touched the ground. A wall of cement shot up from the ground concealing Blaine's location. He heard the sirens get louder then start to fade once they drove past.

"I love when I do that." He said.

Meanwhile, the eclipse had started. Alex and Dustin along with a lot of other students, walked out of the school and they all watched the eclipse. Liz looked up through her windshield and saw the eclipse. Tone sat out on the roof of her house noticing the eclipse as well. Blaine lied on the hood of his car in the alley way, watching the sky. He turned his head and saw that the eclipse had started.


	2. Connecting

LIZ DOWLER - ATHENS, OHIO

Liz pulled into her grandfather's driveway. She walked in the door and saw her grandfather sitting in his usual blue recliner. He was reading the newspaper. He looked over the top of the paper as she walked in.

"I knew you'd come by." He said.

"How so?" Liz asked.

He tapped the side of his head. "Call it grandfather's intuition."

Liz gave him an unconvincing look.

"I also know why you're here. You're here because you've discovered something about yourself."

"You could say that."

"Your abilities have begun to manifest and I'll help you control them."

Liz's eyes widened.

BLAINE STORK - KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA

Blaine pulled into his mother's driveway. He was driving past to go to home to his father's house but saw that his mom was home and saw that her car was there. He got out of the car with a perplexed look on his face.

_"It's unusual for her to be home at this time of day. Usually she's at work."_ Blaine thought to himself.

He walked in the door and saw the house was a wreck. Things were scattered all over the place. His confused looked became a look of worry. He stepped around the things on the floor.

"Mom?" He called.

There was no answer. He walked deeper into the house. He looked into the bathroom and he stood there in complete shock. His mother's dog stood there ready to leap, but it was frozen. Blaine backed up into the door to his mother's bedroom. He stumbled and fell back. He looked up and saw his mother hanging upside down, with the top of her head and brain removed.

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK AND ALEX MERRIELL - ATHENS, OHIO

Dustin and Alex sat in the cafeteria, eating and talking.

"What are your plans for this weekend?" Dustin asked.

"I'm headed to New York."

"That's sudden."

Alex pulled out a notebook and opened it. Inside was the 13th issue of 9th Wonders. As he was flipping through the comic, Dustin noticed a design sketched on Alex's notebook. It was S shaped with three small lines extending from its sides. Two of the lines were next to each other on one side and the other was on the other side. Alex put the comic in front of Dustin and pointed to a picture inside the back cover.

"I'm going to see family but while I'm there I'm going to try and see if I can meet Isaac Mendez. He's the author of 9th Wonders. What about you?"

"I might try and see if I can help coach 3rd and 4th grade football."

"And you say it's sudden for me to go to New York." Alex said with a smile.

"Well, it's too late in the season for me to join the football team so I figure I'll help coach youth football."

"Fair enough."

At that moment Dustin saw someone approach him out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see a dark haired, slender girl in a black mini skirt, knee high boots and a blue button up shirt standing there looking at him.

"What's up, Miranda?" Dustin asked.

"Are you going to the little kids' football practice later tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Is Mr. I'm so great, I don't have to show up for my date or even call going to be there?"

"Yeah, you know he's just going by Ryan now." Dustin replied.

"Well, you can tell him that I don't care and that I didn't even mention it and that…I didn't even see you. And that's just fine."

"So, what do I tell him?"

"Nothing. Man, get with the program." Miranda said as she turned and walked away.

The bell rang and Dustin and Alex got up from their table.

"What was that all about?" Alex asked.

"Ryan from History class also coaches youth football and I guess he stood her up or something."

"Ah."

TONIA FIORE - ODESSA, TEXAS

Tone stood next to a few of her friends near a bonfire. She could hear Jackie Wilcox brag about her rescuing a guy from the train wreck. A wreck that was caused by a pair of twins. Tone thought back to her encounter. She hoped that she wouldn't see them again but she knew it will happen sooner or later because they failed to kill her. One thing that she couldn't comprehend was that they were from Ohio and they knew about her and her abilities. She was deep in her thoughts and was brought out of them when she heard the loud popping sounds of the dummy mascot that was placed on the fire. Everybody began to cheer or make other sounds of enjoyment.

"I wonder who did that." Tone said.

"I think your answer is over there, Tone." One of her friends said pointing past the fire.

Tone looked over to see the quarterback Brody talking with Claire Bennett.

"Looks like Brody is trying to get with somebody else." Tone said.

"What do you mean by that?" Her friend asked.

"It's nothing. Forget it and enjoy your beer." She said turning away from Claire and Brody.

CHRIS MCGRATH – ENTERING CITY LIMITS OF GLASGOW, KENTUCKY

A dark haired 26 year old with a mustache, drove his 1999 black, Honda Civic through the small town of Glasgow. He was on his way home to South Carolina from his mother's house, which is in Bozeman, Montana. He had two weeks paid vacation and he wanted to spend some of it with his mother. He figured that he'd drive there instead of fly. Granted it wouldn't take as long to fly but he'd rather drive none the less.

He pulled into a gas station to fill up his car and to get a few things. He came out of the store and headed to his car. He looked up and saw a pair of twins standing next to it.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

The two people turned around and stared at him.

"You're Chris McGrath. We didn't expect to find you here."

"What the hell do you want?"

"You dead." One of them said.

One of the twins appeared next to Chris and swung at him. Chris ducked and leapt out of attack range.

"Try this." Chris said as snapped his fingers in front of his face.

The snap caused a spark and Chris blew into it. The spark ignited and a fireball flew at the twins. The two of them barely avoided the fireball.

"This guy is already troublesome." One of them said.

"Our targets have been giving us trouble lately."

The twins fired energy balls at Chris who in turn fired more fireballs at them. Chris shot fire straight from his hand at one of the twins. He leapt out of the way but the Chris's attack struck a fuel pump. The pump exploded. Chris used the explosion as a chance to get away. He jumped in his car and sped off. The twins meanwhile, were on the other side of the explosion.

"That's two of them now. Father is not going to like this."

The two of them leapt into the air and flew off.

NICK MATHIAS - LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

Nick walked into his garage tying back his lengthy blonde hair. He popped the hood of his maroon colored 1990 Ford Mustang. He scanned the engine with his eyes and decided it was time to get busy. He patted his pockets and looked on the ground around the car but couldn't find what he was looking for.

"Where is that damn socket wrench?" He said to himself.

He looked up and saw that it was lying on his toolbox that was on the other side of his garage. He outstretched his arm and opened his hand. The wrench slowly slid off the toolbox and flew towards him. He grabbed it from the air and began to work on his car.

LIZ DOWLER – ATHENS, OHIO

Liz sat with her grandfather in her grandfather's basement. Her grandfather held an old looking book.

"You have a lot of these simple ones down. Those are the ones that will help you out when you're a hero. There are bigger and more powerful ones but those ones are like double edged swords. They will eliminate your opponent but can also harm you and your allies as well."

"Like what?"

"Well, take the Dragon Slave spell for instance. This will decimate half if not more of the city of Athens."

"How can I learn it?"

"You don't."

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK AND ALEX MERRIELL – ATHENS, OHIO

Dustin pulled into Alex's driveway, dropping off Alex.

"That football game was a bust." Dustin said.

"That's Athens football for you."

"Well, have fun in New York and I'll see you when you get back."

"Later, broham."

Alex shut the door and walked towards his house. Dustin pulled out and drove off. Alex stepped onto his porch and slightly slipped. He caught himself on the door. He turned around to see that some water was on the porch.

"That could be dangerous." He said as he extended his index and middle fingers. Some dirt from the ground came up and covered the small puddle.

"That's better. We don't need someone falling and breaking their neck." Alex said.

As Dustin was driving he rotated his hand with his palm facing upward. A small blue energy ball formed in his hand. After a few seconds of forming the ball, it faded from existence.

"I better be careful doing something like that. If I was to lose control of it and it hit my car then my car will explode."

KIYO IZUMI – GLASGOW, KENTUCKY

Kiyo, a 24 year old, half Japanese, pulled up to a red light and waited for it to turn green. He was only a few miles away from his house. At that moment, a fire truck sped through the intersection with its lights on and sirens screaming. Kiyo watched the truck go by. He then pushed down on the gas and went after the truck. He followed it for about 5 or 10 minutes before it reached a gas station that was on fire.

"It looks like one of the pumps exploded."

Kiyo parked across the street and watched the firefighters battle the raging fire. He got out of his car and stood in front of it. He clapped his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Suiton." He said.

At that moment, water shot out of a fountain that was in the parking lot of a nearby hotel and crashed down on the fiery gas station. The firefighters were dumbfounded at what had happened. The fire was out and their job was done but they had nothing to do with the fire being put out. Kiyo got back into his car and drove home.


	3. Encounter

ALEX MERRIELL – MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Alex walked through the streets of Manhattan. He held his 9th Wonders comic open to the last page in his hand. He was excited about meeting one of his favorite artists. He looked down at the comic as he turned a corner and ran into two guys. One was Indian wearing a white button up shirt and a brown jacket and the other was a white guy with dark hair wearing a light colored long sleeved shirt with a backpack hanging off of his right shoulder. They both looked like they were in their twenties.

"Sorry, excuse me." Alex said.

"Sorry." They both said.

Alex began walking again but then he recognized on of their voices. He turned around and sure enough it was who he thought it was.

"Peter?"

Peter stopped in his tracks and turned around to greet his nephew.

"Hey Alex, what are you doing?

"I'm headed to see Issac Mendez. What are you up to?" He asked.

"We were just there." Peter said pointing to Mohinder and him.

Alex looked to Mohinder and nodded but then realized what Peter had just said.

"You were just there?"

"Yeah but it didn't seem like he was there. You can go and try but I don't think he's back yet."

"Well, I'll try and I might stop out later when I'm done."

"Sounds like a deal." Peter said.

After leaving Peter and Mohinder's presence, he headed for Issac's loft.

He reached the stairs to Isaac's loft and climbed them with giddiness. He reached the door and knocked on it. After a few moments he knocked again hoping that Isaac would hear the second knock but it was to no avail. Alex's smile faded with the third knock. He peered into the window but he couldn't really see much of anything because there were no lights on. He could see some paintings though. He saw one of a blonde haired girl, another of two guys standing under a banner. Then one caught his attention. He stared at it for a few more seconds before deciding to leave. He headed back for the subway to go to the Petrelli Mansion.

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK – ATHENS, OHIO

Later that night, Dustin walked down the streets of Athens. He was headed to home. The wind picked up slightly but quickly died down. He was lost in his thoughts as he strolled down the side walk unknowingly in the eyes of the twins. They landed a few feet behind Dustin. Dustin turned around to see the them standing side by side.

"You're Dustin Zofchak, right?" One of them asked.

"That depends on who's asking?" Dustin replied.

"Nobody really, just people who want you gone."

Dustin raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I see, so now you want a fight."

"Won't be much of one."One of them said.

"Why's that?"

"There's two of us and we're superior."

"We'll see." Doug said as he leapt towards Dustin.

One of them threw a punch at Dustin's face but Dustin moved to the side. Dustin grabbed his arm and threw him into the air. The other charged at Dustin who had his back to him. He kicked Dustin in the back sending him skipping across the ground. Dustin's momentum was stopped by a lamppost. Dustin stood up and faced his two opponents.

_"These two are strong and work together. This will be tough."_Dustin thought.

The twins stepped closer together until one was standing behind the other. The two of them charged at Dustin. One of them swung at Dustin who disappeared and reappeared in front of the other who was roundhouse kicked across the face. Dustin spun around and grabbed the other by the ankle and threw him into the side of a nearby dumpster. One of them appeared next to Dustin and kicked him in the back. Dustin flew through the air uncontrolled. One of the twins appeared ahead of him and kicked him higher into the air. Dustin noticed he was heading towards the other. He attempted to stop his momentum but his attacker flew towards him and slammed his fists into Dustin, sending him to the ground. Dustin stumbled to his feet. His clothes were already torn and he was bleeding from multiple wounds. One of the twins pointed at Dustin then fired a green beam from his finger. Dustin leapt into the air. He swiveled his body around to where he had to look over his left shoulder to see the twins. He placed his hands down at his right hip. Blue energy began to form between his hands. Dustin fired a blue beam from his hands. The beam hit the twins head on, exploding on impact. Dustin hovered in the air until the smoke cleared.

"I hope that did something." Dustin said to himself.

"It didn't" A voice said behind him.

Dustin spun around to see the twins hovering behind him.

"Damn it."

"It was rather impressive but it's not enough." One of them said.

The twins shot through the air towards Dustin who wasn't ready for their attack. They punched and kicked Dustin all over. One of them kneed Dustin in the stomach and the other punched Dustin out of the air. Dustin slammed into the concrete and onto his back. The twins stared down at him.

"Time to die." One of them said.

Dustin opened his hands and held them next to both sides of his head. His middle fingers were only millimeters away from the corners of his eyes. He emitted a blinding white light.

The twins looked away from the light in hopes to save their vision. Once the light died down and the twins got their vision back, they looked down to see that Dustin was gone.

"Damn it, he got away." One of them said. "We're not doing too well these days."

"I know they seem to fight back these days." The other said. "Let's go back home to father. He'll know how to get rid of these special pests."

Dustin stumbled down a nearby street in hopes that he could get away from the twins. He was walking along side a white wooden fence. He leaned on the fence with his left arm as he walked. He held his side with his other arm.

_"Damn it. What are those two?__ Are they special like me? __My __beam__ didn't even scratch them."_

Aarika drove down the street on her way home. She thought she saw weird lights in the sky but she hadn't seen any for awhile now. She turned down her street and to her surprise she saw Dustin stumbling down the sidewalk. She stopped, got out and ran to him.

"Oh my god. Dustin, are you alright?"

"Help…me." Dustin said as he fell forward and into Aarika's outstretched arms.

THE TWINS – OHIO

The twins landed in front of their house and walked in. They found their father in his office on his computer. He was an older man in his late 40's. Gray hair had consumed all of the color of his hair. Wrinkles began their existence on his face. His glasses sat on the brim of his nose as he looked at his computer screen. Once his sons walked in, he turned away from his computer and turned his attention to the twins. He looked at him over the top of his glasses.

"Father, it would appear that we have a problem." One of the twins said.

"What is it?"

"We've failed again. These special people are becoming stronger and able to fight us. They seem different from the others we've taken out."

"I don't want excuses. You're a Linderman. You don't settle for failure. I want those people eliminated." He said.

"Yes, father." They said in unison.


	4. Heading to Athens

ALEX MERRIELL – NEW YORK CITY

Alex sat in a seat on the subway after his disappointing trip to Isaac Mendez's loft. He sat in his seat with one leg over the other and began to draw something. He didn't know what to draw he was just moving his pencil around on the paper that began to take shape into something. The design was "s" shaped and had three smaller lines extending from it. He looked up and saw Peter and Mohinder. He was going to go up and talk to them but he decided against it because they looked like they were having a serious conversation. He couldn't hear what they were saying because they were next to the end of the car and he was closer to the center of the car. He stared at them for a few seconds but before he could turn away Peter disappeared and reappeared in front of him. It surprised him greatly.

"HIRO, where are you? I don't understand." He said.

Mohinder came up to him.

"Peter, are you alright?"

Peter was frantic about something. Alex's curiousity was now peaked. He still wasn't sure if he should go up to them or not. He decided against it. He continued to watch the two. He watched them walk to the other end of the car explaining about someone who stood right there. Alex stood up and subtlety got closer to hear what they were talking about. He was hoping that he'd be able to get close enough without Peter noticing him eavsdropping on them.

"It seems crazy but I know what I saw." One of them said. "He said something bad was going to happen but we can stop it. But first we have to……save a cheerleader."

"A cheerleader?"

"It seems impossible I know."

"Impossible it sounds mad."

"Please, just, he said I have to go see Isaac the painter. He's gonna' know what we have to do so let's just go back to his loft. If the answer isn't there then I promise I'll drive you to the airport myself. You can go back to India and you'll never have to hear from me again."

"Will you fly me there yourself?" The other asked. "There are no answers. Go home, Peter."

At that moment Mohinder walked away and the subway car came to a stop. Once the Indian geneticist left, he walked over to Peter.

"What happened, Peter?"

"Well, here's the story."

TONIA FIORE – MIDLAND, TEXAS

Tone sat at a table next to one of the front windows of the Burnt Toast Diner. She was going over some school notes with a coke in her hand. She was waiting for her order to arrive. She leaned back in her chair and observed the room. Her waitress was talking with some guys from Japan. She looked over and saw a guy in a hat that shadowed his face. She couldn't tell what he looked like but she didn't like the vibe she got from him. Then suddenly she saw the coffee cup slide to his hand. Her eyes widened and she instantly returned her attention to her notes.

_"What was that?"_ She asked herself.

She tried to go over her notes but she couldn't get what she witnessed out of her head. Minutes later, she heard a scream come from the storeroom. She looked up to see a waitress back out full of fear. The two cops got up and the older one entered the room. Tone looked over and saw that the mysterious man was gone.

_"He probably had something to do with this."_

She began to pack up her books. She looked over and saw that the two Japanese guys were still there then suddenly one of them disappeared.

"What is going on here?" She thought.

One of the officers came up to her.

"I'd like to get a statement if you don't mind." He said.

Tone shook her head as the man pulled out a small notebook.

"I understand that she was your waitress."

Tone nodded. "Yeah she was."

"Did she seem like she was scared? Did she say anything?"

"No. She didn't. She didn't act like anything was wrong." Tone said.

Tone reached down and put her books into her duffel bag. The officer looked down and saw the hilt of a sword. The officer stood up and drew his gun. Tone was greatly surprised. Another officer came over to see what was going on. Tone realized that she had her sword with her and that is probably the reason of his actions.

"Damn it." She whispered.

She grabbed the remaining book off of the table and threw it at the officer. She then darted out the door with the officers in pursuit. She ran down the sidewalk making the distance between her and the officers bigger. She was a great deal faster than the two pursuers. She turned a corner and a few seconds later the two cops turned the corner to find that the girl was gone.

"Where'd she go?" One of them asked.

"I don't know. She's gone though. Let's get back to the diner." The other said.

Tone lied on her back on the roof just above the cops. She listened for them to leave before she made her move. Once they were gone she got up and took off for her house. Shortly later, she arrived to find her mother very livid.

"TONIA, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"What?"

"Running from the cops."

"They saw my sword and thought I killed that girl. I hadn't even moved from my spot."

"They said to call them when you returned but I'm not going to. I'm going to send you on a flight to your father's house in Ohio."

"That's fine with me."

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK – ATHENS, OHIO

Dustin awoke a few hours later. His eyes slowly opened and scanned the ceiling. He noticed it wasn't his own and he shot up. He saw that he was in someone else's bed. He looked around and saw Aarika coming to his side.

"You're awake."

"What happened?"

"I found you on the street and brought you here."

Dustin rotated his shoulder and realized that he was shirtless and was wrapped in bandages. He pulled the bed sheet away and realized that he was completely naked. He quickly replaced the sheet.

"Where are my clothes?" He asked.

"Over there." Aarika said pointing to her cedar chest.

"I can understand the shirt but why all of my clothes?"

"You had a wound on your thigh that ran down the side of your leg and I couldn't bandage it with your clothes in the way."

Dustin blushed.

"I am grateful for you tending to my wounds."

Dustin attempted to move again but pain shot through his body. He winced and Aarika protested.

"Oh, I don't think so. You're going to stay here tonight and you are going to stay in the bed."

"But this is your bed."

"I'm not complaining that I have a cute naked man in my bed but you're wounded."

"I'm not complaining that I'm in a cute girl's bed either but where will you sleep?"

"It's a queen size bed and I trust you. Remember, we've known each other for awhile."

"But we aren't even boyfriend and girlfriend." Dustin said trying to think of a reason not to stay in the bed.

"Well…do you want to be?" Aarika asked.

Dustin was surprised by the question.

"Uhh….ssssuuuu…..yes." Dustin finally spat out.

Aarika smiled. She stood up and held Dustin's face with her hands. She leaned in and kissed him.

"I'm going to go get a shower. Just lie here and relax."

Dustin watched Aarika walk out of the room then he lied back and let out a breath of relief.

LIZ DOWLER – LANCASTER, OHIO

Liz drove her car down to Athens again to see her grandfather. She was still in her cheerleading uniform. She wanted him to go over more spells with her. She learned so much last time and she wanted more. As she was driving she thought she saw something in the night sky but she shrugged it off. Then something exploded next to her and she swerved to avoid it. She stopped her car and got out to see what had happened. She looked up to see two figures lowering themselves to the ground.

"So you're Liz Dowler." One of them said.

Liz didn't say anything. She stood very cautious and prepared herself for anything.

"The silent type I see. Well, you'll be silent from now on once we kill you." The other said.

They both charged up a baseball sized energy ball and threw it at Liz. She leapt out of the way and threw a few arrow shaped fireballs at them.

"Flare arrow."

The twins leapt over the arrows and attacked again. Liz did her best to dodge the attacks but the energy blasts were getting closer to her. One of the energy balls struck her foot and she lost her footing and fell to the ground.

"Fireball." She said as she threw a basketball sized fireball at the twins.

The two attackers leapt back away from it.

"She's a dangerous one. We should watch ourselves." One of the twins said.

"Dill Brand." Liz said as she slammed her hand on the ground.

The ground below the twins shot up launching them into the air.

"I'm sorry grandfather but I have to do the Dragon Slave." Liz said softly to herself.

She stood to her feet began to gather her spiritual energy.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand in front of this mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess. DRAGON SLAVE!"

Just as she was about to launch the attack, Liz was hit in the back with a blast. She fell to the ground in pain. She rolled onto her back and stared up at her attackers.

"Well, it's time to die." One of them said.

Suddenly, a pair of headlights shined on them. They looked up and they saw a figure emerge from the vehicle. Liz didn't recognize the guy. The man slightly lifted his hand and a wave of dirt flew up and took out the twins. The guy ran over and grabbed Liz and pulled her to her feet.

"Get in." The guy said.

The two of them got in the car and sped off.

"Thanks for the help." Liz said. "Who are you?"

"The name's Alex."

Liz and her savior drove off to their destination; Athens, Ohio.


	5. Six Months Ago

SIX MONTHS AGO

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK – PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Dustin walked down the hallways of Trinity High School. He then spotted a friend of his at her locker. He walked up to her and leaned against a neighboring locker.

"What's up, Jess?"

Jessica turned and smiled. "Hey, how are you?"

"I asked first." Dustin said grinning.

"That's true. You did. Well, to answer your question. Nothing. Just the usual. Now answer mine."

"The same actually. Nothing new."

"The school year is almost over. What do you have planned for the summer?"

"Leaving town. Maybe go to Cancun or somewhere in Europe. What about you?"

"Well, I…"

Dustin was cut off by someone grabbing him and slamming him against the lockers. It was Jessica's boyfriend Gage.

"What right do you have to talk to my girl?" Gage demanded.

"Uh let's see here…uh it could be that Jess and I are friends and friends do talk to one another."

Gage slammed him against the lockers again. "Don't get smart with me."

"Gage, stop it now. He's a friend."

"Shut up, Jessica. He's hitting on you and no one hits on my girl."

"Well then maybe I won't be your girl anymore." She said.

"What? You're breaking up with me?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear her the first time? Or do you need a hearing aid you dumb bastard."

Gage slammed him again. Dustin was getting furious by the second.

"Do that again and you won't be able to do anything ever again." Dustin said with fury in his eyes.



Naturally, Gage did it again and this time Dustin grabbed his wrist and twisted it in a way that it shouldn't be twisted. Gage stumbled back and held his wrist. He then used his other hand to throw a punch at Dustin but Dustin ducked below it and punched Gage in the chest. There was an unexpected flash of light when Dustin's fist made contact with Gage's chest. Gage fell back and his chest was smoking. Dustin, along with everyone else looked very surprised at what just happened.

ALEX MERRIELL – ATHENS, OHIO

Alex sprinted down the streets of Athens. It was raining very hard and no end was in sight of this very harsh storm that had been going on since yesterday. A friend had called him to help her find her dog. The dog had run away during the storm and was no where to be found. He didn't even have a car because his mom was at work and his brother had just recently moved up to Columbus taking the second car with him. He was just out of luck. He had only been out of his house for a few minutes and he was already drenched. He had no idea where this dog could be and he figured that he'd be out here for hours. He turned the corner and saw his friend Maggie standing there.

"Anything?" She asked.

Alex shook his head.

"Damn it. We're never gonna find him at this rate." She said.

At that moment, they heard barking and Maggie's eyes lit up.

"That's him." She said running the direction of the noise.

The two of them ran through a mall parking lot to the back of the building to find a small Scottish Terrier on the other side of a fence. Construction workers had to carve out part of a hill to build the mall and the area behind the mall looked very unstable.

"There you are." Maggie said.

They both climbed over the chain link fence and Maggie scooped up the small dog.

"This little thing can be such a big problem sometimes." Alex said.

Then suddenly the two of them heard a slight rumble. They looked up the hill to see it collapsing in on itself and causing a landside. Maggie tossed the dog over the fence and tried to climb over it. Alex came to help. Maggie was able to get over the fence but Alex still had to get over it and had to run away from the landslide. It would be trying to out run a car.

_Shit, I won't make it out in time. _

Alex put up his hands in a futile attempt to block it. After a few moments, Alex realized that he wasn't being tossed around and covered in mud. He slowly lowered his hands and looked at the mud. It had stopped in mid motion. He looked around totally confused. He looked to Maggie who also shared his confusion.



"This is messed up." Alex said.

He got over the fence and just as the two got out of harm's way, the mud continued and slammed into the old mall destroying most of it.

"That's really messed up." Maggie said.

LIZ DOWLER – LANCASTER, OHIO

Liz Dowler drove through Lancaster with tears in her eyes and blood covering her lip. The storm didn't help matters. It was bad enough that her tears kept her from seeing clearly let alone the rain hitting her fogged up windshield. It didn't matter though; she was headed to her grandfather's house because it was closer and she knew she could talk to him about anything. She couldn't tell her parents about anything because somehow they'd turn it around and make seem like it was her fault.

After a few minutes she was at her grandfather's house. She walked and her grandfather was there to greet her. He had his usual smile on his face and gave her a hug. He did notice that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She looked up at him with her teary eyes and he noticed the blood on her lip.

"What happened at school? Did you get into a fight?"

Liz hesitated as she stepped away from him. "It's just this girl there. She thinks she's great at everything and just because I made the cheerleading squad and she didn't, she decided to jump me."

"The next time it happens, I want you to stand your ground."

At that moment, he touched the top of her head and there was a bright flash of light for a brief instant.

KIYO IZUMI – ODESSA, TEXAS

Kiyo lied strapped to a gurney. He slowly opened his eyes to see a man wearing horn rimmed glasses standing over him and a dark man behind him. He moved eyes around to see if he could figure out where he was. He had no idea.

"Where am I?"

"Don't worry about it. Just relax" Noah said.

"Did you know that the body is about 65 percent water?" Kiyo said as he moved his fingers into a certain position.



Mr. Bennet didn't do anything except smile. Kiyo's eyes widened.

"We're aware of your abilities, Mr. Izumi. My friend here is special too and won't allow you to use your abilities."

Kiyo struggled hard to get out of his restraints. In the process he ended up causing the water in a nearby glass, shoot up into the air and hit the Haitian. Bennet raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

"Impressive. You're pretty far along." He turned to the Haitian. "Go deep." He said before walking away.

"Hey, hey. What the hell do you think you're doing? Get your hands off me."

NICK MATHIAS – LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

Nick stood in his father's body shop waiting for a car to pull in. Business had been slow all day and he was bored out of his mind. His father had left to grab food and left him in charge. Not that there was a lot to be in charge of. Then finally after awhile a black Honda Civic pulled into his garage.

"Bout time I get a customer."

Chris McGrath stepped out of his car and walked up to Nick.

"My muffler popped off a few miles back and I need it to be put back on."

"I can do that." He said kneeling down to inspect the rear of the car.

Chris handed him the muffler before stepping outside. Nick, not looking, reached for his welder but it was just out of arms reach. He tried to reach for it without moving. Then suddenly the welder flew from its position and into his hand. Nick was somewhat surprised.

_What in the…?_

BLAINE STORK – KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA

Blaine worked under the hot sun trying to figure out how to put his mailbox back together. Somebody had decided it was a great idea to go around and play mailbox baseball. Although he did it when he was younger but now it was just annoying. He had all the pieces sprawled out on the ground. He stood there looking at the pieces trying to figure out which piece went where.

"This'd be easier if I could go and buy one but nooooo mom wants me to put this one back together. This sucks." He clapped his hands finally deciding to take on the feat. "Time to get to work."



His hands touched two of the pieces of the metal mailbox and then in a burst of smoke, the mailbox was no longer broken. He really didn't react to what had just happened. He just looked from side to side and then at it with a very confused look on his face and he just tapped his knee with his right index finger.

"Well, I guess that beats going out and buying a new one." He said.

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK – PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Dustin stood in the Principal's office getting the lecture of his life. The Principal was accusing him of assaulting Gage with a lighter. Dustin knew better.

"What do you have to say for yourself? I've called the cops and they're coming here to question you if not take you to jail for assault."

"Ok, so let me get this straight. You think I burned that bastard with some magical lighter that I apparently posses and you've called the cops because I assaulted somebody? Give me a break. You guys are unbelievable. This doesn't make a bit of god damn sense. You guys refuse to expel the inbred white trash kids who are constantly fighting over which sister is pregnant with their 'kid' but you go after the kid with the good grades that doesn't do anything wrong. What is wrong with this picture? Hell, you didn't even know my name until this little mishap. You want to get rid of me because Gage is the son of some damn realtor slash lawyer. Get off your damn knees and do what's right for a change."

"Watch your mouth."

"Mister…"

"That's Doctor to you."

"Ok, 'Doctor Wallis'." He said with his fingers in quotations. "You are missing the point."

"No you are. You are expelled."

"What?" Dustin said slamming his hands on the desk. "You can't do that. Are you that stupid?"

The Principal looked at his desk. It was severely cracked where Dustin had slammed his hands. Dustin noticed it too.

"What in the hell?"

"Get out of here."

"Fine, whatever. Stay on your knees for all I care." Dustin said slamming the door which broke when it slammed shut.

Dustin walked out of the building looking at his hands. "What am I?"

ALEX MERRIELL – ATHENS, OHIO

Alex walked into his house after walking Maggie home. He was soaking wet from the storm. His mom had just hung up the phone as soon as he walked into the room. She looked a bit distraught. Alex looked at his mother quizzically.

"What is it, mom?"

"Your Aunt Heidi just got into a car accident."

"Is she all right?"

"She's paralyzed from the waist down."

"What about Uncle Nathan?"

"He's fine. He was thrown from the car and wasn't hurt at all."

TONIA FIORE – MIDLAND, TEXAS

Tone sat in the Burnt Toast Diner reading a book. This book had special meaning behind it. She found it in a bookstore by chance. It taught people how to change an object's shape by running your hand down it or binding a person just by moving your hands in a certain formation. Tone found it very interesting and just had to buy it. She was able to bind her neighbor with an invisible force just because he was bothering her. He had turned his back and she made the necessary hand movements and the next thing he knows is he's on the ground and unable to move. No matter how interesting this book was, it was giving her a headache to just constantly go over its contents. She leaned back in her chair and stared straight ahead. Then without warning a Japanese guy appeared a few booths down from her facing her direction. He appeared with his eyes closed tightly and then when he opened them he looked satisfied. One of the waitresses, Charlie Andrews came over to him.

"My name is Hiro Nakamura. I'm here to save your life."

Tone's eyebrow lifted. She noticed Charlie looked confused as well. Then Charlie was called over to the counter to blowout her birthday candles. She watched Hiro follow her like he knew her for sometime.

"Maybe I'm not the only special one here. Maybe there are others like me. Maybe we're the future."


	6. Five Months Ago

FOUR MONTHS AGO

LIZ DOWLER – LANCASTER, OHIO

Liz walked out of her classroom and down the hall to her locker. She was done for the day and decided that she might go and see her grandfather. It had been about a month and a half since she last visited her grandfather. She was kinda freaked out by that sudden flash of light that occurred when he touched her head. Although she didn't have any run INS with the girl that jumped her in school. She hoped that the rest of her time in school would go smoothly but she knew better than that. After getting things from her locker she headed for her car in the parking lot. She reached the parking lot to see that girl and a group of her lackeys surrounding this other girl. The other girl was on the ground and crying. She didn't really want to get involved but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl.

_Oh damn it what the hell?_

She walked over to the group who didn't realize she was coming until she was practically on top of them. Meghan turned around to see Liz standing there.

"What do you want?"

"You should stop messing with her." Liz replied.

"Or what? You're gonna beat me up?" She said while laughing.

Liz smirked. Meghan stopped laughing and noticed Liz's grin.

"What are you laughing for you, bitch?" Meghan said as she went in for a slap.

Liz's hand immediately went up and caught it. This surprised both Liz and Meghan. Liz cocked her other arm back as if she was going to throw something.

"Fireball."

She wasn't sure what she was doing but her instincts told her to do as such so she threw a baseball sized fireball at Meghan. Meghan clinched her eyes tightly waiting for the inevitable but she realized after a few seconds that it didn't come. She opened her eyes and saw Liz's smoking hand. Needless to say she was confused. Then she heard an explosion. She turned around to see that her car was ablaze.

"That was my car."

"You think."

"You'll pay for this." Meghan said running away from the scene with her friends.

Liz looked down at the battered girl and smiled.



DUSTIN ZOFCHAK - NEW YORK CITY

Dustin stepped out of a cab in front of an apartment complex in Manhattan with his sling style backpack and a small suitcase. He opened the door and started up the stairs to the fifth floor. His mother got a call from a geneticist by the name of Suresh. His mother didn't think it would hurt due to the fact that Dustin was out of school for summer and suspension. She also told him he could stay with his sister that lived in New York. His sister was a few years older than he was and was living on her own in the city. He hadn't seen hi s sister ever since she moved to New York. The two of them had a decent relationship as far as siblings go but his sister had a bit of a depression issue at times due to her weight issues. She always stressed to Dustin about being in shape. He knew that he and his sister were a bit one the opposite ends of the spectrum as personality and looks went. He was more of the athletic build while she was on the bigger side. He could make friends with anyone he met while she was more of the emo, hate the popular kids type. However, he took his sister's advice and did his best to stay in shape. He often wondered why she didn't take her own advice considering she was overweight. He finally reached the fifth floor and walked down the hallway. He found his sister's door and knocked on it.

"Coming." A voice said from the other side.

Seconds later, the door opened and his sister stood in the doorway with a smile on her face. Correction, Dustin's sister had a weight problem. Dustin was in complete shock at his sister's new look. She was now a lot thinner and had even cut her hair a bit longer than what it was. Although she still looked like his sister, her face did look a lot different and it wasn't because of weight loss.

"Wow, Betty,…you look good. I mean…"

"Careful, little brother. Some people would call that incest."

"Well, it'd be legal in West Virginia."

Betty laughed at Dustin's remark. He always had some comment to say and it was usually funny. Betty held the door open for Dustin as he brought his stuff in. He scanned the apartment as he stepped deeper into it. Not a bad place for a single girl like Betty.

"Another thing I forgot to tell you is, call me Candice."

"Candice? Why?"

"You know I never liked my name. So I took Candice instead. It was either that or Michelle."

"Candice, eh? It suits your new look." Dustin said.

"I think so. I'm also taking Dad's last name. So I'm going by Candice Wilmer."

"You've always gone by Dad's last name, even though he and mom were never married." Dustin replied.

"That is true. So did you hear? I'm moving to Texas." Candice said.



"How could I hear that if I hadn't talked to you in a while and if mom didn't know?"

"Fair enough but I got a job working at a paper company down there called Primatech."

"So, you'll be making copies, eh?"

"Something like that." Candice said with a slight grin.

TONIA FIORE – ODESSA, TEXAS

Tone came home from school to hear yelling come from inside her house. It wasn't any surprise to hear he mother and step father fighting. Her step father was one of the abusive types. She had no idea what her mother saw in him. It was probably lust at first and then fear of loneliness. Either way it wasn't a good reason to marry someone. Every time her mother appeared with a new set of bruises complete with a set of black eyes, she'd constantly say some lame excuse to cover for him. He had even beaten her when he wrecked the car while drunk driving. She was at home at the time and somehow he had blamed it on her. Tone walked into the house and up the stairs into the hallway just in time to see her step father lay one right on her mothers face. For some reason today, this was getting on Tone's nerves. Normally, she'd go into her room and drown it out by doing something else but now it was taking everything she had not to do anything. She couldn't take it any more.

"Stop it." She said. "Stop hurting my mother."

"Or what?" He said walking over to her.

He bent over slightly to get closer to her face. Tone slightly stepped back to avoid the potent alcohol smell coming from his breath.

"I won't let you hurt her anymore."

"Don't think just because you're a woman don't mean that I won't hit you." He said.

"Yeah you've proven that." She said with a sarcastic tone to her voice.

Without warning, Tone was knocked into a wall. Her step father had backhanded her across the face. She looked to her mother and saw that her mother wasn't going to be any help due to the fact she was stricken with fear. Tone shot to her feet and stood in front of her step father.

"What? You want some more?"

"I'm not Oliver Twist." She said as she did a few hand movements in front of him. "Restrain." She said as she made a slashing motion across his chest as the last hand movement.

Her step father's hands were grabbed by an unseen force and forced behind him.



"What the hell is going on?" He said as he fell to the floor.

"This is why you're not going to hurt my mother again." She said as she started stomping on his face.

He tried desperately to get away from the unrelenting onslaught coming from his step daughter. He moved backwards trying to move away, unknowing that the stairs were only inches away. Tone noticed this and stopped her attack. Her step father opened his eyes once the attack was over and was helped to his feet by Tone. She could see the anger seething in his eyes. She knew that if she released him that he'd kill her. She wasn't done yet anyway. She extended her index finger and pushed on his chest, sending him crashing down the stairs. Her mother ran past her and down the stairs to the broken body. She felt for a pulse and didn't find one.

"He's dead." She said.

BLAINE STORK – KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA

Blaine walked down the street in downtown Kissimmee. He had gone to the bars that night to practically make his paycheck disappear. Although he wasn't drunk, most of it went to random good looking girls that had come into the bar through out the night. Even though he sat next to a girl at the bar, got to know her, bought her virtually unlimited drinks, he was still walking home alone. After looking at his hands and visualizing the abilities he had stuck them into his pockets and kicked a random rock in annoyance and depression.

_What good are these abilities if I can't show them off or at least impress some girl?_

He usually went to the bars so he didn't have to go home or didn't have to go home alone at least. Half way home, he realized that he wasn't alone. He vaguely heard the footsteps of two people behind him. He slightly turned around and saw one of the guys pull out a red piece of clothing and then shove it back in his pocket. He turned his eyes back to the front of him. No sooner than he did that, he felt two pairs of hands spin him around and slammed him to the ground. One of them pulled a gun and held it to his chest.

"What you carryin'?" One of them asked.

"I don't have anything." Blaine said.

The one with the gun patted Blaine's pockets with his free hand in search for his wallet.

"What? You got no wap wit you? You white, you got money."

The guy found Blaine's wallet and reached in for it. Blaine instantly clapped his hands together and touched the gun. He was able to mold the gun into a metal tube that attached itself to the guy's hand.

"What the…?"



The guy pulled back and his friend came over to inspect his hand. Blaine wasn't done yet. He clapped his hands again and pressed them to the ground. The ground erupted and encased the two guys in a dome like barrier. With one more clap and pressing his hands to the dome and caused it to return to the earth with the two guys inside.

"Don't you ever try to rob me again." Blaine said not expecting an answer from the buried would be robbers. "They'll be able to get out, eventually."

He stuck his hands back into his pockets and continued walking home.

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK – NEW YORK CITY

Dustin walked out of Professor Suresh's apartment after doing some tests and revealing his ability to him. Suresh had called his ability Ki manipulation. The ability to focus one's life energy into a physical form of energy. As he shut the door he looked up and damn near ran into a girl about his height but seemed older. She had a stove pot with a lid on it. The scent of macaroni and cheese filled Dustin's nostrils.

"Sorry." He said.

"No I'm sorry. I almost burned you with the pot."

Dustin walked off as the girl walked into through the door he had just come out of. He walked out of the building and hailed a cab. One pulled over and he got into the cab. The driver was a very dark skinned bald man. He didn't say anything when Dustin got in.

"Uh…take me to…" Dustin pulled out a slip of paper. "I can't remember the address. It's…uh…."

Smoke began to fill the back of the cab. Dustin looked at the driver who seemed like he didn't care about the smoke. Dustin covered his mouth and coughed as he tried to open the doors. It was no use. After a futile attempt to break the windows and to open the doors, he finally passed out. Once he was out the driver pulled away.

Dustin awoke in a room that was mostly dark but it had enough light to get around. He felt the restraints on his arms and legs along with the neural attachments of a machine. Suddenly, a man came into view. A man with short brown hair and wearing horn rimmed glasses.

ALEX MERRIELL – NEW YORK CITY

Alex and his mother walked down the streets of Manhattan heading for his Aunt and Uncle's house. In front of them Dustin Zofchak stepped out of a cab, holding his head. If he were old enough he looked like he were drunk. Dustin looked up and saw Alex's approach.



"Excuse me; do you know what day it is?" He asked.

"Uh, Tuesday." Alex replied with a confused look on his face.

Dustin looked around trying to gather his thoughts. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Alex said walking away.

_That can't be right._ _I've somehow lost a day._

Dustin started up the stairs of his sister's apartment complex. Alex continued down the street heading towards the Petrelli Mansion. A few minutes later, he and his mother arrived. His mother rang the door bell and a few seconds passed before a man came and answered the door. The man knew who they were and let them in without stopping them. They took a few steps into the house and Heidi came rolling up to them in her wheelchair. Heidi was Alex's mom's sister, who was now paralyzed from the waist down. Nathan walked into the room a few seconds later followed by Peter.

"How are things holding up here?" His mom asked.

"Well, we've gone through a bit of a spell. Nathan's dad passed away a few weeks ago."

A look of sorrow passed over Alex's mom. "Oh, Nathan I'm sorry."

Nathan just nodded accepting the comfort. Heidi turned herself around in her wheelchair.

"Come on, I'll have the chef cook up something for lunch."

Alex was not one to argue when it came to getting food, especially food from his Aunt and Uncle's place. He excitedly followed them to the outside dining area.


	7. Grouping Together

BLAINE STORK - SOMEWHERE ALONG I-77 SOUTH CAROLINA

Blaine had almost been driving non stop and he was getting tired again. He'd sometimes pull into some hotel parking lot and take a nap for a few hours before driving again. He pulled off the highway and headed for the town of Winnsboro. He wasn't far from the town when two yellow balls of light struck the road in front of him. He slammed on his brakes and his car skidded to a halt. He got out looking into the sky where they originated. He saw two beings lower themselves to the ground.

"So you guys are special too, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." One of them said.

"So are you like kid down the street special or JC Penney special?"

The twins narrowed their eyes at Blaine. Without warning, one of them lunged at Blaine. Blaine clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. A wall of cement shot up to protect Blaine from the attack. It wasn't as strong as he had thought. One of the twins was able to burst through it almost as if it wasn't there. Blaine fell back in surprise but he was lucky that he did because as he fell the attacker over shot him.

Blaine got back to his feet and backed up to keep both opponents in his line of sight. The one in the air pointed at him and the tip of his finger began to glow. A beam of light shot from the finger and sliced through the ground where Blaine once stood.

Blaine clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. He pulled out a large staff. One of the twins appeared behind him and kicked Blaine in the back, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Damn, that'll hurt tomorrow."

"No it won't." One twin said.

"Because we're going to kill you tonight."

One of them grabbed Blaine by the throat and held him in the air. Blaine grabbed his arm and to his surprise, he found out that it wasn't normal flesh and bone. He could feel the inner workings of the arm.

"Yeah you guys are definitely special."

Blaine caused the arm to shatter. The twin stumbled back.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Obviously shattered your arm."

"You'll pay for that." The other said lunging at him.

"Do you remember me?" A voice said.

The twins turned around to see Chris McGrath standing next to his car.

"Good, we'll get to kill two birds at once."

"Doubt it."

Chris snapped his fingers and blew into the spark. A fireball shot out and everyone leapt out of the way. Both twins hovered in the air. They looked at each other and nodded. They both knew they had an even lesser of a chance to win now with the new arrival.

Both of them took off towards the north.

Blaine extended his hand out. "I'm Blaine."

"Chris." He said shaking it.

"How did you know?"

"For one it's in the middle of the night and normally people don't put up fireworks this late. Once I knew it was those two I had to help out. They attacked me a few days ago and ran then too. They need to be stopped."

"Yeah but I have no idea where they are headed. We'll have to wait for them to attack again." Blaine said.

Chris nodded. "So where are you headed?"

"Athens, Ohio."

"Family, up there?"

"Nope, just a random area I chose. Plus I hear that the girls at Ohio University are crazy."

Chris just shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

"What about you?"

"I was headed home. But I really want to stop these guys. They know where I live and I really don't want them showin' up again."

"Fair enough. Well, if you want to tag along you can."

"I'll take you up on that. You lead the way."

Blaine nodded and smiled. The two new friends hopped into their cars and headed north.

DUSTIN ZOFCHAK AND AARIKA HARRIS – ATHENS, OHIO

Dustin sat with Aarika in the food court at the mall. Dustin walked with slight limp from the injuries that were caused by those two mysterious twins that he fought the other night. Aarika was able to tend to his wounds. It was in fact a weird night for Dustin. First he gets into a fight where he had to use his ability and then he has a girlfriend. What's next, a black president?

"How long have you been able to do these things?"

"Since I got kicked out of my old school."

"You see, I later realized that it was my fist that burned the guy. An energy ball had formed just as my fist hit him and it left a burn mark."

Aarika nodded. "What is it called again?"

"According to this doctor I met while I was in New York, he said it was called Ki manipulation. I can focus my life energy into a physical form of energy."

"I did notice something else when you were in my bed the other night."

Dustin lifted an eyebrow.

"I saw two small marks on your neck. What are they from?"

"I'm not completely sure. I just remember being in a cab in New York and then next think I know I see a guy with horn rimmed glasses. He has something to do with it."

LIZ DOWLER AND ALEX MERRIELL – ATHENS, OHIO

Liz and Alex sat at Liz's grandfather's house. Liz had told her grandfather about Alex and how he saved her. Her grandfather was intrigued by his ability, terrakinesis.

"You're ability is terrakinesis, the ability to move Earth and other aspects of it." He said.

Alex nodded.

"These twins that attacked me had some sort of ability too. They shot energy from their hands.

"Must be some sort of Ki manipulation or something. I know someone around her has something like that. I can feel his energy when he uses it. The other night, there was something going on because I could feel that person's energy skyrocket. Something big is going to happen."

Liz heard Alex mutter something under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing really. It's just I heard my uncle say something while I was in New York and it didn't make any sense to me until I saved you."

"And what is that?"

"Save the Cheerleader, save the world."


End file.
